In Noah and the Whale's song there are two lines- 'Hold my hand as I'm lowered' and later 'Well, I fell in love with a world in you'. Laura seems to be responding to the obvious sadness and loss of the relationship, that it is something she will never forget when she sings 'I'd be sad that I never held your hand as you were lowered, but I'd understand that I'd never let it go'.
But, it also seems she wants to move on. The relationship didn't work. You wanted this from me, but I am not going to change who I am for you. Hence, she continues on to say: 'I'd be sad that I never held your hand as you were lowered, but I'd understand that the world does what it does'- the world that he fell in love with, her personality, is how it is and she is not going to change. She then goes on to say how she felt pressured by him..
In Noah's next album, the one full of lament for LM, I think there may a bit of a reference to Blackberry Stone when he sings in Slow Glass:
Well I heard you been singing
Well I was, what I am
Well I never tried to change you, honey I'm your biggest fan
and I loved you back then
but I don't recognize you now
That last line is interesting- Charlie Fink produced her first album. Then she broke up with him. Then she realeased Blackberry Stone as a B-side, it sounding quite a lot different to the album. I Speak Because I Can is quite quite different to Alas, and I suppose this reflects to how shes matured while away from him.
Anyway, it could all be coincidence, who knows.
Not only is the line 'I'd be sad that I never held your hand as you were lowered' a reference to the line 'Hold my hand as I'm lowered' in the Noah and the Whale's song, but the line 'I'd understand that the world does what it does' by LM could alse be seen as referring to
When I first heard this song, I was instantly captivated and I listened to in on-repeat for about 20 minutes.
When I first heard this song, I was instantly captivated and I listened to in on-repeat for about 20 minutes.
It immediately reminded me of a past relationship I had been in, an emotionally tumultuous relationship with someone who was clinically depressed. Perhaps it is my own personal bias or selective interpretation, but I really do feel that this song is about someone who has gotten out of an abusive relationship with a person who is severely depressed. In the song, it seems that the relationship has taken a serious emotional told on narrator, and only after getting out of the relationship, she is able to look back on how much she allowed herself to change in the process in hopes to make her significant other happy. But, she realizes that she cannot make her significant other happy if he is not happy with himself. Thus, she comes to accept that she cannot change him, and must leave him.
"But I'd whisper that I love this night now and for forever,
To your soul as it floats out the window,
To the world that you turned your back on,
To the world that never really let you be."
This song is poignant because there is an obvious sense of both desperation and hope. While she feels saddened and desperate that she couldn't force him to be something he couldn't, she learns to regain her independence, reclaim her identity as an autonomous person when she leaves him. ("and I am Laura now, and I am Laura still.) Perhaps, this was something Laura wrote after her own breakup for herself in order to help her recover.
In Noah and the Whale's song there are two lines- 'Hold my hand as I'm lowered' and later 'Well, I fell in love with a world in you'. Laura seems to be responding to the obvious sadness and loss of the relationship, that it is something she will never forget when she sings 'I'd be sad that I never held your hand as you were lowered, but I'd understand that I'd never let it go'. But, it also seems she wants to move on. The relationship didn't work. You wanted this from me, but I am not going to change who I am for you. Hence, she continues on to say: 'I'd be sad that I never held your hand as you were lowered, but I'd understand that the world does what it does'- the world that he fell in love with, her personality, is how it is and she is not going to change. She then goes on to say how she felt pressured by him..
In Noah's next album, the one full of lament for LM, I think there may a bit of a reference to Blackberry Stone when he sings in Slow Glass:
Well I heard you been singing Well I was, what I am Well I never tried to change you, honey I'm your biggest fan and I loved you back then but I don't recognize you now
That last line is interesting- Charlie Fink produced her first album. Then she broke up with him. Then she realeased Blackberry Stone as a B-side, it sounding quite a lot different to the album. I Speak Because I Can is quite quite different to Alas, and I suppose this reflects to how shes matured while away from him. Anyway, it could all be coincidence, who knows.
Not only is the line 'I'd be sad that I never held your hand as you were lowered' a reference to the line 'Hold my hand as I'm lowered' in the Noah and the Whale's song, but the line 'I'd understand that the world does what it does' by LM could alse be seen as referring to
When I first heard this song, I was instantly captivated and I listened to in on-repeat for about 20 minutes.
When I first heard this song, I was instantly captivated and I listened to in on-repeat for about 20 minutes.
It immediately reminded me of a past relationship I had been in, an emotionally tumultuous relationship with someone who was clinically depressed. Perhaps it is my own personal bias or selective interpretation, but I really do feel that this song is about someone who has gotten out of an abusive relationship with a person who is severely depressed. In the song, it seems that the relationship has taken a serious emotional told on narrator, and only after getting out of the relationship, she is able to look back on how much she allowed herself to change in the process in hopes to make her significant other happy. But, she realizes that she cannot make her significant other happy if he is not happy with himself. Thus, she comes to accept that she cannot change him, and must leave him.
"But I'd whisper that I love this night now and for forever, To your soul as it floats out the window, To the world that you turned your back on, To the world that never really let you be."
This song is poignant because there is an obvious sense of both desperation and hope. While she feels saddened and desperate that she couldn't force him to be something he couldn't, she learns to regain her independence, reclaim her identity as an autonomous person when she leaves him. ("and I am Laura now, and I am Laura still.) Perhaps, this was something Laura wrote after her own breakup for herself in order to help her recover.